• Vetiranary Medicine
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Hypertriglyceridemia in epileptic dogs

April 1, 2009
Ronald Lyman, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM

Hypertriglyceridemia refers to a fasting plasma triglyceride measurement that is increased, typically above the 95th percentile for age and animal species. Hypertriglyceridemia can be divided into primary and secondary forms.

Hypertriglyceridemia refers to a fasting plasma triglyceride measurement that is increased, typically above the 95th percentile for age and animal species. Hypertriglyceridemia can be divided into primary and secondary forms. A genetic background seems to predispose dogs to hypertryglyceridemia in the primary form, whereas no genetic susceptibility component can be identified in dogs with the secondary form.

Secondary causes of hypertryglyceridemia include obesity, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus with insulin resistance, nephrotic syndrome, hyperadrenocorticism, hypothyroidism, certain medications (e.g., long-term glucocorticosteroid administration), high-fat or carbohydrate diets and cholestasis (Table 1).

Table 1: Selected causes of hypertriglyceridemia

In a recent paper by Elissa K. Klugler et al., titled "Serum triglyceride concentration in dogs with epilepsy treated with phenobarbital or with phenobarbital and bromide," published in JAVMA (Vol. 233, No. 8, Oct. 15, 2008), the authors note that some dogs treated long-term with phenobarbital or with phenobarbital and bromide may develop hypertryglyceridemia.

Advertisement

Many breeds were represented in this study. The most common breeds treated with these drugs that developed hypertriglyceridemia were the Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Maltese and Poodle. Fasting serum triglyceride concentration was higher in dogs treated with phenobarbital and bromide than in control dogs. Serum triglycerides did not differ significantly between the group of dogs treated with phenobarbital alone compared to phenobarbital and bromide.

The authors suspect that clearance of chylomicrons from the circulation was apparently delayed in these epileptic dogs. In rabbits and guinea pigs, phenobarbital increased hepatic, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) production secondary to microsomal enzyme induction, which may result in high serum triglyceride concentrations.

A paper published by John E. Bauer in 2004 noted that excess of VLDL may overload lipoprotein lipase (LPL) receptors, causing an accumulation of triglyceride-rich chylomicrons in the blood (Lipoprotein-mediated transport of dietary and synthesized lipids and lipid abnormalities of dogs and cats. JAVMA, Vol. 224, No. 5, March 1, 668-675). It is suspected that phenobarbital also may decrease LPL activity, resulting in hypertryglyceridemia.

In dogs, pancreatitis is a possible complication of long-term treatment with phenobarbital and bromide or with bromide alone. In the study by Kugler et al., 16 percent of dogs with epilepsy had a history of pancreatitis and 27 percent had high canine-specific pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (cPLI) values, supporting pancreatic inflammation.

In Kugler's paper, dogs treated with phenobarbital had low serum total thyroxine concentrations and high serum alkaline phosphatase activities, but did not have any clinical signs or repeatable biochemical abnormalities consistent with hypothyroidism or hyperadreno-corticism. Hypertriglyceridemia in the dogs reported in this paper was apparently not associated with one or both of these endocrinopathies.

The reader should note that so-called atypical hyperadrenocorticism, with elevated blood levels of androstenedione, estradiol, progesterone, 17-OH progesterone or testosterone, was not addressed in this study. The clinician should consider an ACTH stimulation adrenal panel test (available through the University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine) to rule out this syndrome in cases with hypertriglyceridemia.

In conclusion, hypertryglyceridemia is common in dogs treated long-term with phenobarbital alone or with phenobarbital and bromide. Elevated blood triglyceride level may predispose to pancreatitis. Therefore, regular assays of the serum triglyceride level and a low-fat diet should be considered in dogs treated with phenobarbital alone or combined with bromide.

Dr. Bichsel completed his residency in neurology at the University of Georgia in 1984. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and works at the Animal Emergency and Referral Center in Ft. Pierce, Fla.

Dr. Lyman is a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He completed a formal internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Lyman is a co-author of chapters in the 2000 editions of Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XIII and Quick Reference to Veterinary Medicine

Related Content:

Endocrinology
Dr Natalie Marks to lecture on diabetes management with Dr Adam Christman
Dr Natalie Marks to lecture on diabetes management with Dr Adam Christman
Top 3 pancreatic diseases in dogs
Top 3 pancreatic diseases in dogs
Hypoadrenocorticism in the emergency setting
Hypoadrenocorticism in the emergency setting

Advertisement

Latest News

Managing wounds in pet patients

Spectrum of care: protocols to support pet owners’ budgets

How to support women while still running a successful business

The Vets expands to Raleigh, NC

View More Latest News
Advertisement